COTUIT, Mass. – The Kettleers went into their final regular season home game with one mission: win and in.
A victory against the Bourne Braves would have clinched a spot in the playoffs for Cotuit, but the team couldn’t crawl back from an early deficit, and lost 7-4.
Similar to their 14-4 win over the Commodores Friday night, the Braves offense exploded in the second inning.
After the first four runners of the inning reached, starter Gavin Jones (Kent State) was pulled in favor of Dylan Scudder (Bryant).
Two singles and a force out put Bourne up 4-0 in the second.
The Braves tacked on another run in the third on an RBI single from Gavin Kelly (West Virginia) to extend their lead to 5-0.
The Kettleers slowly started clawing back in the fourth inning, when Jack Natili (Cincinnati) scored on a balk from the Bourne pitcher. Landon Beaver (UAB) brought another runner home on an RBI single to left to make the score 5-2.
For the second straight night, the Kettleers had two arms make their debuts. Tim Tyler (Walters State CC) and Will Newell (Georgetown). The two fresh faces combined for 4 ⅓ innings of shutout work, with Tyler surrendering just four hits.
Cotuit found itself in prime scoring position in the seventh, when it had the bases loaded with no outs. A wild pitch scored the team’s third run of the game, and a double play scored its fourth.
Heading into the ninth, the Kettleers only trailed by one. The Braves got to Jonathan Adelmann (Bucknell), and they got to him fast.
Once again, the first three batters reached, loading the bases for Sebastion Mexico (Louisinia Tech). A shot into the gap in right-center field scored two Braves, giving them a comfortable 7-4 lead.
The Kettleers couldn’t chip back in the ninth, and they dropped Game No. 39 of the season.
Tomorrow's game in Falmouth begins at 6:00 p.m.. Here is what you need to know heading into the last day of the regular season:
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
KETTLEERS ARE IN IF:
COT def. FAL
OR
COT ties FAL
OR
WAR def. HYA
OR
WAR ties HYA
OR
WAR def. HYA AND FAL def. COT
KETTLEERS ARE OUT IF:
HYA def. WAR AND FAL def. COT
